Pedestrians

Downtown Bike Lanes Disappear from Plan for Oklahoma City Boulevard

Plans for an Oklahoma City Boulevard have used bike lanes in all their design and promotional materials, but now that the job has been awarded to a contractor, the lanes have disappeared.

December 20, 2017 - The Oklahoman

Pedestrians

Op-Ed: Planners Could Do More to Encourage Healthy Communities

In many locales, instruments like traffic studies take pedestrian health into little account. According to Lark Lo, healthy communities haven't been much of a priority at all.

November 18, 2017 - Next City

New York City Pedestrians

'Walking Summit' Highlights Long Path Ahead

A piece from the Congress for the New Urbanism discusses the 2017 National Walking Summit. The proceedings included the release of the nation's first walkability report card.

November 6, 2017 - Public Square: A CNU Journal

School bus with stop sign

Drivers Most Distracted Right When School Gets Out

A study from the company, Zendrive, found that the overwhelming majority of motorists drive distracted between the hours of 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

September 28, 2017 - CityLab

Pedestrian Signal

New California Law Makes Crossing the Street More Legal

Many pedestrians don't realize it's illegal to cross the street while a crosswalk is counting down until a cop is writing them a ticket. A new bill could change that in California.

September 21, 2017 - KPCC

Both Ways

Ford Coins a New Term to Protect Cars from Pedestrians: 'Petextrians'

The Ford Motor Company picks a side in the traffic safety debate.

September 7, 2017 - Ford

Denver

Denver to Step Up Its Transit Game

Recent studies find that central Denver is still woefully underserved when it comes to transit accessibility. On the table are streetscape improvements to make life easier for pedestrians and transit riders.

July 5, 2017 - TransitCenter

Tuscany

Seattle Experiments With Fence-Free Sidewalk Cafés

Sidewalk-adjacent eating spaces generally separate diners from pedestrians. By using markers instead of fences, some Seattle eateries are opening their dining areas to the street.

July 4, 2017 - The Urbanist

Jane's Walk

The 'Jane's Walk' Tradition Continues

In honor of the pioneering urbanist, who would have been 101 years old this week, citizens are organizing "Jane's Walks" in cities across the globe.

May 2, 2017 - The Boston Globe

Crosswalk Button

Friday Fun: A Song Inspired by the Crosswalk Signal

Turn it to 11.

March 10, 2017 - CityLab

Downtown Street

Op-Ed: Houston Should Try to Kill Fewer Pedestrians

City officials in Houston have shown little regard for the safety of its people when they're walking outside, argues an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle.

February 10, 2017 - The Houston Chronicle

Sidewalk Closed

For Once, Cars, Not Pedestrians, Make Room for Construction

In a welcome turnabout of the usual state of affairs, a Philadelphia construction site gives a lane of traffic to pedestrians to make up for the three blocks of sidewalk it's taking.

January 11, 2017 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Madison Bike

A New Long-Range Transportation Plan for Madison, WI

Proposed long-range transportation plan for Madison emphasizes biking, walking, bus rapid transit.

January 10, 2017 - The Capital Times

One World Trade Center

How Should Lower Manhattan Handle Its Crowd Problem?

In the period since 9/11, Lower Manhattan has undergone a residential boom. With daytime professionals and tourists also in the mix, the strain is showing.

December 12, 2016 - The New York Times

New York

New York Launches Campaign to Warn Drivers and Pedestrian About Darkness

In an effort to curb traffic accidents, which typically increase with longer nights, New York is launching a 'dusk and darkness' ad campaign.

November 4, 2016 - The New York Times

New York

Bill Introduced to Relieve Congestion—on Sidewalks

New York City has come a long way since the Giuliani days, when sidewalk barriers were placed at intersections to facilitate turning vehicles, thus prohibiting pedestrians from crossing the street.

October 4, 2016 - amNew York

Walking

The Best Urban Walks From Around the World

The Guardian has surveyed its readers to discover the why and where of urban walks.

August 11, 2016 - The Guardian

Colosseo in Rome as seen from Via dei Fori Imperiali on a Sunday when traffic is cut off.

Walkability Reaches a Tipping Point

With the rise of globalization, and urbanization, people are rethinking how cities should be structured in terms of transportation and mobility. Is it possible to reconfigure auto-centric cities into pedestrian-friendly spaces?

July 26, 2016 - Doggerel

NYC-crosswalk

Crowded NYC Sidewalks Force Commuters Into the Street

In the 1970s, the fear of getting mugged had some NYC pedestrians walking in the street. Nowadays, commuters are sharing space with cars for a very different reason: the sidewalks are too crowded.

July 7, 2016 - The New York Times

Ghost bike in New York

2015 Road Toll: 35,200 Fatalities

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released preliminary fatality estimates for 2015. Deaths jumped by 2,525, an increase of 7.7 percent over 2014. Pedestrians and bicyclists saw the biggest increases.

July 6, 2016 - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.